Japan's Premier Says Reform Effort Is in Danger

By DAVID E. SANGER,

Published: May 11, 1994

TOKYO, May 10—
Acknowledging that Japan's reform effort is in imminent danger of derailment, the new Prime Minister, Tsutomu Hata, said today that "people are seized with uncertainty and a sense of crisis," and warned that after a year of national upheaval, "the new order is still not in sight."

Mr. Hata's assessment came amid growing predictions that his minority Government may rank among the shortest-lived in modern Japanese history. After 12 days in office, his Cabinet has already deeply offended China and South Korea, said it sees no early end to its bitter arguments with the Clinton Administration on trade and reversed itself on how to deal with North Korea.

The traditional policy speech to Parliament was barely finished this morning before several of Mr. Hata's onetime allies in the previous coalition Government announced that they were combining forces.

Together with the Liberal Democratic Party, from which Mr. Hata bolted last year when Japan's reform effort seemed more promising, they easily have enough votes in Parliament to defeat the new Prime Minister at any moment they choose.

Mr. Hata used his speech today in an effort to repair some of the damage done by his former Justice Minister, Shigeto Nagano, who denied that Japan had been an aggressor in World War II and called the Rape of Nanjing, the 1937 massacre by Japanese troops in China that left more than 150,000 dead, a "fabrication."

Ever since, Japanese diplomats have been racing around the continent, noting that Mr. Nagano had been forced to give up his post even after apologizing for the remarks.

Acknowledging "the pain and anger of the peoples of neighboring countries caused by the recent remarks," Mr. Hata said the country must follow a path "based on its deep remorse." But the damage has already been done: opposition parties have used the outcry in Asia to portray Mr. Hata's Cabinet as a group of right-wing militarists, and Mr. Hata has been sharply criticized for trying at first to protect Mr. Nagano.

Mr. Hata openly admitted today that the country's political fragility "is not normal" and was already talking about holding a new election. He insisted that it must be held under the landmark political reform bill that passed this year, moving power from rural to urban voters.

But some of his opponents are calling for an election under the old system -- which would undermine the most important reform pushed through by Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, who resigned last month.